Cross Bikes on Singletrack - Post Your Photos

Lately I've fallen in love with riding my cross bike (a more or less standard issue Cross-Check) on my local mountain bike trails, and I know there are many others on here who also take their cross rigs on singletrack adventures. So let's see your photos!

Now, it's my hope that this thread won't have too much discussion about whether or not cross bikes are better than mountain bikes for trail riding. That's been beat to death already. Let's just say that it's a different experience. Are your everyday trails getting too bland for you? Try riding them with 32mm tires, no suspension, and drop bars. Riding a cross bike on singletrack will make you a better rider, I think. You have to pay attention to line choice and ride with as much finesse as you can muster. And bros on full squish bikes give you looks like this -- -- that are just precious.

Also, letís please keep the ďthatís not a cross bikeĒ banter to a minimum. Iím hoping to mainly see (relatively) skinny tires, canti brakes, drop bars, and so on, but debating the semantics of whether a particular bike is actually a cross bike or a monster cross bike or a drop bar 29er with skinny tires is boring. Anyone caught doing so will be ridiculed thusly.

Posed pics are good. Action shots will receive a hearty slap on the back.

Here are a couple to start things off:

mah beloved bike:

a lil rock ride:

a lil log:

Aight, whatchu got?

"Never trust a man in a blue trench coat. Never drive a car when you're dead." -- Tom Waits

yes, it's a cheap cross bike...but it's bad ass...mt tam, kirby cove, the 42's i was running for a while and a view from the bars on the many trails in golden gate park. alas, the frame is broken and i am waiting for word from the shop...

My La Cruz loves dirt

Sorry to hear your frame broke. Another fallen soldier... Good luck getting another one - any hope for a warranty replacement?

waiting for word from performance who is waiting for word from schwinn or whatever conglomerate owns the schwinn name nowadays...good thing i wash my bikes every once and a while or i might not have noticed!

i've considered turning my road bike into a cross bike, but can you do that?

Kinda sorta. Depends on the frame - most modern road frames (and most roadie brake calipers) don't have room for big ol' knobby tires. Most road wheels aren't going to take the abuse that off-roadin' is going to dish out either.

"Never trust a man in a blue trench coat. Never drive a car when you're dead." -- Tom Waits

A thread after my own heart! Singletrack on a cyclocross bike is a blast. i like the idea of finding the limits of a given bike. Depending on the day, when i find it's limit, i either shoulder the bike and hike through a technical part, or i take a little spill!

A thread after my own heart! Singletrack on a cyclocross bike is a blast. i like the idea of finding the limits of a given bike. Depending on the day, when i find it's limit, i either shoulder the bike and hike through a technical part, or i take a little spill!

Hey, waitabloominsecond... that's Brown Co. State Park in your first pic, right? You in Indiana?

wg - That's an awesome shot.

"Never trust a man in a blue trench coat. Never drive a car when you're dead." -- Tom Waits

Two people finished the Wilderness 101 last weekend on cross bikes. One was running more of a "monster cross" bike with fat tires, and the other a Moots SS cross bike with 34c tires. Both on disk brakes. I think the SS guy ran 34x16 or something stupid high like that... and he finished in 8.5 hrs... basa$$ mofo...

Two people finished the Wilderness 101 last weekend on cross bikes. One was running more of a "monster cross" bike with fat tires, and the other a Moots SS cross bike with 34c tires. Both on disk brakes. I think the SS guy ran 34x16 or something stupid high like that... and he finished in 8.5 hrs... basa$$ mofo...

Just hearing that makes my thighs ache and my calves burn. Hats off to them, for reals.

Originally Posted by Black Bart

Don't have may pics of my CX on single track, but here's a "gnarcore" vid:

Videos are perfectly acceptable. That's a fun lookin' log pile. It'd be ultra-gnarcore if you crushed a can of Redbull on your head before and/or after riding the log pile.

Last edited by heartland; 08-05-2011 at 06:40 PM.

"Never trust a man in a blue trench coat. Never drive a car when you're dead." -- Tom Waits